The United States and Japan will step up their defence cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

Whitehaven halts forest clearing in NSW

Community groups have hailed as a victory a decision by Whitehaven Coal to suspend plans to clear the Leard State Forest for its Maules Creek coal mine in northern NSW.

The last-minute decision to halt work came as the Land and Environment Court was expected to rule on an injunction application made by community groups to stop the clearing.

But on Thursday Whitehaven agreed to temporarily stop the work until there is a full hearing on the matter, expected in early September.

"This outcome today sends a strong message to coal mining companies across NSW and to the NSW government - if they will not enforce the law, then the community is prepared to step up and do it themselves," Maules Creek Community Council spokesperson, Phil Laird, said in a statement.

"We appreciate the action taken by Whitehaven today and we will be preparing to vigorously pursue the full legal challenge."

"Voluntarily suspending clearance activity two weeks earlier than planned, considering the progress we have made to date, will not impact our progress overall and the project remains on track for first coal in March 2015," he said.

As part of its $767 million development of the Maules Creek mine, Whitehaven plans to demolish about 1660 hectares of native woodland to extract coal by early 2015.

The decision to halt the clearing has won praise from environment groups and the Greens.

NSW Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi said the decision proved community concerns were justified.

"It is clear that Whitehaven saw the writing on the wall," she said.

In recent months, the site has become a familiar one for protesters, who chained themselves to machinery during the months-long blockade near Boggabri, prompting warnings from police to stop their "reckless and dangerous behaviour".